Wednesday, November 2, Rotorua

November 03, 2022

If we didn't do much on Tuesday, we made up for it on Wednesday, after driving to Rotorua.

Once again, we have an apartment in the central business district, so there are a lot of restaurants and small shops nearby (no large grocery stores, though). Once again, we have a small refrigerator in a completely enclosed cabinet. I can understand this being done in a few places by people with no understanding of physics, but I just don't get why it has become so widespread.

First we walked around the government gardens. Then we walked out to the promontory, which is apparently a bird refuge. We saw a couple hot springs. Then we went to a Maori ceremony, Te Pa Tu.

Te Pa Tu was a four-hour ceremony, which I expected would be mostly boring. Happily, I was wrong.

As before, Steven drove us there while others came in a bus. He let Paula and me out, while Paula scooted ahead, leaving me to hunt in the car for my phone. Isaac called it, but the car itself started complaining loudly about having all the doors open, or some such, and we didn't hear it. After a few minutes Steve and Isaac drove off to the parking area, and I went to join Paula, who had taken my phone and put it in her purse.

I found Paula sitting on a bench and chatting with the tribal chief. Although Maori, he is a completely normal, nice person; turns out he is also a teacher. He teaches languages. He sounded very Australian.

After a bit the bus arrived, with 50 or 60 people, and the ceremonies began. We were instructed by a Maori woman not to smile or laugh, but just stand. The chief, backed up by a few of his men, came out and harangued us in Maori for a few minutes, waving a weapon around. Then he put a sprig on the ground and backed up a few paces. One of the people from the bus, representing our "chief," came forward and picked up the sprig. Following this, there was a loud welcoming speech, again in Maori.

After that, the chief explained the significance. When one tribe met another, the question was whether the new tribe came as friends or as enemies. If the arriving "chief" picked up the sprig with his right hand, it was to be peace; if with his left hand, war.

At some point in the evening (not exactly sure when) the Maori fighters put on a fighting display, jumping around and making faces, perfectly synchronized. It's easy to see how terrifying this could be. Paula asked about the part where they stuck their tongues out--it's a way of saying, "I'm going to eat you."

After that there were various activities which included us, as guests. We were split into two groups, each group doing the same things but in a different order; it was very well organized.

We were shown a few plants and told what they were used for (nope, don't remember any of that), and what some of the buildings were used for.

The women were separated from the men and each given a ball on a string, and shown how to swing it around and catch it. If I understood it correctly, this was a learning device for handling the real thing, which was a rock on a string. Paula made a valiant effort, but on a scooter with no space in front of her, she didn't do well. More importantly, she looked like she was enjoying herself.

In another game, those of us who were willing to try were given poles, perhaps five feet long and 1.5 inches across. We held the stick in front of us, upright on the ground. At a call of "left" or "right" (in Maori), we let go of the stick, moved left or right, and took the stick the person on that side had just released. This was an elimination game. I, of course, was the first to be eliminated, but Steve and a woman made it to the end (I think she won, but I'm not sure).

The evening ended with a feast. The Maori put on a show, with dancing, with the balls on a string, with (shorter) sticks, all expertly and perfectly choreographed. Broadway has nothing on these folks!

The most interesting thing about the feast itself was how British it was. The table settings were standard, and the plate I had depicted a horse and carriage in front of a pub. Also, I had pork belly for the first time; aside from the shape (spiral), it's quite an ordinary cut of pork.